Material Poverty of CDC Workers in Tiko

ABSTRACT

Generally, the working conditions of plantation workers characterized with low income, poor housing facilities and austere working conditions is the same in all plantations within the globe.

The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC)   is one of the richest companies in Cameroon and the second employer after the government but it is ironical that she has one of the poorest workers especially the general laborers. The main objective of this study is to investigate how a rich company like CDC has very poor workers.

The research or alternative hypothesis of this study suggests that the management board of CDCis responsible for the misery of CDC workers in TIko. For effective investigation, primary and secondary means were used to obtain data. For the primary, 40 Questionnaires were distributed among the camps with 4 for each camp after intervals of 20 house.

Published and unpublished material was used. Map of the study area was collected from Tiko council. After a kin finding and understanding of the conditions of CDC workers in CDC, I urge both the management board and workers union to jointly work and provide decent and spacious dormitory settlement, more confortable transport systems and a new bireme for increase wages for the CDC workers.

If this is done, the labour needs of the plantation will be solve as many will be attracted to work in CDC.

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Material poverty by the western definition considers those who fall below a certain 8income or consumption level and they lack basic facilities in life which result to low standard of living. Plantation workers all around the world have been noted for living in misery and poor conditions.

They suffer from low wages austere working conditions and poor housing just to name a few. The Cameroon Development Cooperation (CDC) is one of the richest companies in Cameroon and second employer after the government but it is ironical that she has one of the poorest workers especially the general laborers.

The main objective of this study is to investigate how a rich company like CDC ha very poor workers. The research or alternative hypothesis of this study suggests that management board of CDC is responsible for the misery of the CDC workers in Tiko.

For effective investigation, primary and secondary means were used to obtain data.

For the primary, 40 questionnaires were distributed among the camps with 4 for each camp after interval of 20 houses. Publish and unpublished material was used, map of the study area was collected from Tiko council 

1.3. PROBLEM STATEMENT

The establishment of plantation companies like the CDC banana, palm and rubber plantation, mbo banana plantation and the SBM banana plantation in Tiko has reduced the rate of unemployment in the town. It is ironical however that workers, who are the main factor of production in CDC are facing serious material poverty yet working in a rich company which is the second highest employer after the government in Cameroon.

Workers in the CDC plantation in Tiko just like in most plantations in the world are faced with the problem of low wages. The amount of wage paid to CDC workers is disproportionate compare to the labor input into the job. As such, they find it difficult to cope with their family responsibilities as well as paying their bills. This has forced most of the workers to borrow money in other to meet with their financial obligations. At the end of the month after collecting their wages, they pay their huge debts they incurred and at the end, they are left with empty pockets to go home with and the cycle of poverty continues. The deterioration of the camp building is another issue of great concern. The CDC plantations have established temporal dwellings for workers, some of which are found within the plantation and others are found in towns. These building no doubts have been helpful to the workers in the plantation especially those who left the North West Region to work in CDC and have no shelter. However these camps are as old as the plantation themselves, since the colonial period. Since the colonial period, very little or no renovation work has been done to upgrade the camps into modern structure. The house look so old, cranky, small and shabby with toned zincs, broken toilets of which some have already filled up. The small size of the rooms causes congestion which results to lack of privacy amongst the workers and increase immoral activities leading to the rapid spread of sexually transmitted diseases like HIIV/AIDS and Gonorrhea.

Working inconvenience is another problem faced by the workers of CDC. The inconveniences here includeearly working hours, Transportation difficulties and hard labour. The CDC workers especially the general laborers are expected on their job sites at very early hours. This very early working hours is too risky for the workers as some of them can be harassed and attacked by thieves on their way to work. Apart from attacked by thieves the harsh conditions in the early morning are detrimental to the health of the workers. Some workers equally close very late form work and they get up very early in the morning to work again. This makes the workers stressful and makes some workers reluctant and difficult to be in their job sites every working day. Most times some farms have transport difficulties to work and even back. There are few transport trucks to transport workers to work ad back. The nature of work is hard because insufficient and inefficient working materials. This slows down the work and makes it tedious especially for the general laborers in the field.  As a result of such hard work, most of these workers suffer from hyena.

The farms lack good recreational facilities like good drinking water, and toilets. The drinking water supplied to the laborers is not well treated. Many of the workers, out of taste, drink from the streams in the farms. This is so dangerous because the chemicals spread on air and those applied on the crops are washed to those streams because  they dissolved, workers still drink from these streams because they can’t die of thirst since they are left with no other option than to drink from the streams. Workers suffer from diarrhea and dysentery. There are very few toilets within the farms; this has caused workers to defecate on the plantation farms and on streams running along the plantation while others bath in that same stream after work.

With CDC as the second largest employer in the country and being one of the richest companies in the country it is paradoxical that its workers are materially poor.

1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS    

MAIN QUESTION

How can we explain that workers in a rich company like CDC are materially poor?

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

• What are the signs of material poverty of the CDC workers in Tiko?

• What are the aspects of material poverty in of the workers?

• How can this poverty areauspiciously addressed to improve the standard of living of the workers.

1.5. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

MAIN OBJECTIVE

• To examine the various aspect of material poverty of the CDC workers in Tiko.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• To find out the various causes of material poverty of the CDC workers in Tiko

• To analyze the different aspect of material poverty of the CDC workers in Tiko

• To suggest possible solution to reduce poverty of the CDC workers in Tiko

1.6. HYPOTHESIS

Null Hypothesis (H0)

1. The management of the Cameroon Development Corporation is not responsible for the material poverty of its workers

Alternative hypothesis (H1)

2. The CDC management (Cameroon Development Corporation ) is the root cause of poverty of its worker